Pocket Conan

[Anonymous]

just heard about this, saw a January 2005 release date, will that be close?I was leaning towards Blue Rose by Green Ronin, but when I found out about Pocket Conan, I am hoping it will be my January buy!!!!

d

 

[Lucius]

To be honest, this is probably the only Conan supplement I will not be buying. I really find it difficult to think of a time when I'd use this. I think my money will be better spent on other REH Pastiches than this. Just my humble opinion, mind. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

well that may be true, but I was not found of the border art in conan (ie naked woman) While it may be true to genre, I dont' really want that in a house with young children, and I would be embarrased to have it at gaming table frankly.

But I am waiting for someone to comment on my choice being between Blue Rose (romantic fantasy) and Conan. Talk about complete opposites. Speaking of opposites, and just to show how "odd" i am, yesterday, from the Library, I borrowed Conan by REH and The Passion!!! (Even farther apart!!)

d

 

[Faraer]

I can also appreciate both, and I'm glad to have a broader range than someone who feels they have to pigeonhole themselves.

Children seeing women without tops? NOOOO!!!!!

 

[Arkobla Conn]

The $50 price tag is a bit steep for some people...a $20 dollar alternative is a nice way to get round that...

 

[Anonymous]

farearaeararer- perhaps, someday, should you be fortunate enough to get close enough to a member of the oppsite sex long enough to have children, you shall feel differently. And, should you currently happen to have children, and don't limit what they see and hear at a young age, then I feel sorry for your children.

arkobla conn the price tag is the most attractive quality of this book.

d

 

[The Warlord]

IMHO, these images aren't promiscuous, so I don't have a problem with them. Rather I would take caution against the images of violence, and not the nude body. Content needs to be taken into account in regards to images of nudity, and again I find nothing offensive in the border part of the book.

(now, the Zamorean picture in RoK is a different matter entirely)

I'd rather my children come to know the human body through positive social interaction, than 'under the bleachers'.

 

[Mythos]

All I have to say is that I'm glad that a $20.00 version of the rules is going to be released. now I don't have to keep loaning my copy out, or making copies of rules that the players want to "read in detail".

Let them start shelling out their own money to find ways to make me work. :twisted:

 

[Anonymous]

bullbear My point was not that the border was horrible, should not be seen, OH HOW COULD THEY DO THAT. OR that no one else should see it or show it to their children.

It was simply that as a parent I am not comfortable with that image in my home, easily accessible to my children, at this point in their life. (I also do my best to limit their intact of violence as well) If that pigeonholes me and "narrows" me, then so be it. I see my number 1 job as a parent as defining for my children what I am comfortable with them seeing/doing/saying, a levying appropriate consequences when they step out of that comfort zone.

So, its not a problem with me that the images are there. I don't think that the company is evil, or that it is an explotation of women, or any of that bunk. It boils down to I merely am not comfortable with that image in my house, easily accessible to my children, at this point in their young lives.

It amazes me that I am called to the carpet because of my unwillingness to compromise my comfort limit.

d

 

[The Warlord]

It amazes me that I am called to the carpet because of my unwillingness to compromise my comfort limit.

OK...

I wasn't addressing you directly, just simply stating my viewpoint.

When I first bought the books early this year I had the same initial reaction. The wife and I are planning for kids soon, and Conan is the only RPG product I own. I had paused due the nudity on every page, but came to realize a great many things about my own upbringing. I grew up overseas, and my parents made sure my brother and I we're exposed to other cultures. We saw many topless women not only on commercial TV, but carnivals, beaches, etc. The naked body lost it's 'taboo' to us.

I hope to be as upfront with nature to my kids as my parent's were. I'd hate for my kids to have to learn from 'Girls Gone Wild'.

I totally understand your comfort level, just giving my take is all.

 

[Mayhem]

Lucius - Its understandable that you can't see when you would use it - I rather think that the target audience of the Pocket Handbook is people who don't have the full rules already.

"Guest": Don't be taking your kids to any art-galleries. Remember folks, the human body is something to be ashamed of, m'key?

 

[Padre]

Don't be taking your kids to any art-galleries. Remember folks, the human body is something to be ashamed of, m'key?

I'm not a parent, but I can see Guest's point. Human body is nothing to be ashamed of, but nudity is more than just showing one's body. Besides, raising a kid includes preparing him/her to live in a society, and most societies don't approve exhibitionism. It's up to parents to decide what is good for their children. Keeping your kids from seeing nudity doesn't make you narrow-minded, just as allowing them to see some 'skin' from time to time doesn't make you a pervert.

 

[Strom]

Guest Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 2:57 pm    Post subject:
So, its not a problem with me that the images are there. I don't think that the company is evil, or that it is an explotation of women, or any of that bunk. It boils down to I merely am not comfortable with that image in my my house, easily accessible to my children, at this point in their young lives.

As a parent of two I can't understand your point of accessiblity to your books. I guess one alternative is to not have the book, but that seems like the 'kids" are running the show. My books are not accessible to my kids and that is my responsibility. It is also my responsibility to teach them rules and to learn respect for other people's property. IMO, your solution is not the best solution but perhaps the easiest.

 

[Anonymous]

Believe it or not, mere nudity(innocent or 'natural' nudity) is not a big deal to young children. It frequently is to teens, but exposure to natural healthy nudity seems to help even with that. A little one may ask some uncomfortable questions if they see some of the art in Conan, though.

Note: I would not try to tell anyone how to raise a child; the above is based on a dozen years membership in a nudist camp, with quite a few children growing up there. Early exposure to nudity seems to be a highly positive, not negative, influence. These are merely MY observations based on real life experience. Take it as you will.

 

[Anonymous]

While I understand wanting to keep exploitative images of the human body out of reach of children, I don't see how a simple, rather crude, image of a topless woman would have much effect on a child.
When I saw my son nurse, I understood that breasts were more than erogenous zones. To a nursing baby, they are the greatest source of peace and comfort in their little world. A picture with a boob in it just doesn't qualify as dangerous, or even unpleasant.

 

[Lucius]

And bringing the topic back onto track...

Who will be buying the pocket guide?

For those of you who wish to read more on how the Conan borders are "shocking", search for a thread with "nudity" in it's title. It was around several months ago. Lets not hijack this thread instead. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Not 'hijacking' a thread. Just trying to reassure someone that the borders are harmless. Already seen the old thread.

I'll not be buying the pocket handbook, 'cause I have only so many bucks and would rather have sourcebooks and some of the boxed sets coming along next year.

 

[Yig]

And bringing the topic back onto track...

Who will be buying the pocket guide?

For those of you who wish to read more on how the Conan borders are "shocking", search for a thread with "nudity" in it's title. It was around several months ago. Lets not hijack this thread instead. :wink:

Ah, the dynamics of online discussions! You can never tell where they will go, and you can't really control them without killing them.

I won't be buying the pocket version: I bought a copy of the old edition (on Ebay, thinking I was getting a deal) before I realized the corrected version (AE) was available, which I felt compelled to buy. Having spent now $87 on the same rulebook (entirely my choice, mind you), I don't plan on shelling out more for another version of it. But, the fact that I shelled out for the AE I think says a lot about the quality of the game, Mongoose's _serious_ editing and QC problems notwithstanding.

As to the art: :twisted:

I, too, think the image of a naked woman isn't inherently harmful for children -- I think images of violence are far worse. But, 1) I say this entirely aware of my position as a childless man, and 2) the image of the naked woman in the rulebook, associated as it is with the REH Conan stories, isn't exactly innocent or neutral or nonviolent. That women depicted is supposed to be a slave girl, an object, something less-than-human. Let's face it.

Women in REH stories were largely trophies, spoils of war. The Conan stories are the Conan stories, but this kind of representation of women is not something I would want my child exposed to at a young age: I'll have enough trouble trying to get them to think outside of that sort of crud that the rest of the (American) culture transmits.

Many of my favorite books (or films based on books) are racist or sexist. But I am able to look at Tolkien or REH critically; both were products of their social context. I understand that -- young children (probably) cannot.

I'm thinking here of a seven year old I met at a gaming shop who spoke animately about Gimli's axe in an Uruk-hai's skull and how funny that was -- I found the encounter sort of sad and a little creepy.

I am not saying that kids should be denied great books like those of Tolkien or REH, but parents definitely need to frame the stories for them. Violence too easily becomes a game to children.

Of course, RPGs are about violence as a game , but they're also about social interaction, narrative, heroics, imagination, etc. We should emphasize this.

And Lucius: it's all relevant, dude. :wink:

Brian

 

[Padre]

I'll get a SoC-ed Atlantean Edition soon, so it all depends on my decision whether to keep the first printing, or sell it and get a Pocket guide instead. Hard to say.

 

[Mayhem]

And bringing the topic back onto track...

Women in REH stories were largely trophies, spoils of war.

Yup. Belit and Valeria were famously passive and weak, existing only as victims.